Kain remembered that place well. The religious autocracy of Avernus. The entire city revolved around a schedule ordained by Azimuth, the reverend mother of Avernus. Once, she was revered by her subjects. They knew her as an enlightened mind, one that cared for them and would never abandon them. That was not the Azimuth Kain had met, however. Poisoned by Nupraptor's madness, she was the doom of Avernus. The madness warped her senses, demolished her flawless wisdom, her desires changed. She turned to cravings of power, a love of carnage bloomed within her. 

        Avernus cathedral was built like the world, for lack of a better word. The cathedral itself was the living world, a portal takes you to a sealed away chamber somewhere in the cathedral, heaven. A trap door in the cathedral led you to a secret basement, a spirit forge. A place where weapons and artifacts are forged from forfeit souls. To find the most powerful weapons in the world, you must first travel to Heaven to find the Soul Reaver, then to Hell to find the Wraith armor. I'm missing something. Assuming that this place is designed after Avernus, heaven was the rooftop, I have to find Hell, that's where I'll find the ceremony.

        Hell, darkness, pain, blood, fire, Fire! The furnace, the way was by the furnace. How can I have been this stupid! Kain reached the furnace. He called upon another discipline, he did not focus his mind this time, he freed it, allowing it's energy to spill out into the entire room. Kain opened his eyes, light had filled the room. Sure enough, right beneath his feet, in front of the furnace, there was a plate, it was well disguised, he doubted a human would have given it a second thought. He lifted the plate up, a dark concrete tube extended down below it. Kain saw a ladder along the far side of the tube, and he began the descent.

        This is one hell of a gamble, Angel thought, Who's to say they won't just shoot me and stake me? Despite his fears, Angel didn't slow down, he had every intention of seeing this through to the end. The front door was easy enough, the guard didn't even seem to notice Angel's presence, so he kept walking. The front desk would be a little harder. But that too, proved easy. He walked past. The secretaries were all speaking to late customers or answering phone calls. They didn't notice or didn't care about the man dressed in black going past the desk and into the elevator. Angel let the elevator close behind him, expecting an attack any minute now. His face was unreadable, no one could see the splinter of fear in his heart. He would know what Wolfram and Hart had against him, or he would die. He hit the button for the basement, wondering if Kain had been through here yet or not. For all I know, he may have cut the cords so that I plummet to my death. Or maybe he was too scared of this technology and ran off. Something was wrong, the numbers were going down, but Angel could feel himself going up. He looked around the elevator. No cameras that he could see. They must have spotted me in the lobby. Deep down Angel had his doubts that this plan had any chance of working. But he had to know what relationship he had with a millenium old force of evil. Why, then, did Wolfram and Hart need him. 

        He'd soon find out, as the doors came open. Angel walked out the doors, to the sight of about ten barrels aimed at his heart.

        "Welcome to Wolfram and Hart, Angel."

        "And you are? " 

        "My name is Lucien Dorn. How nice to finally meet you in person. Do excuse the hostility, but I wasn't sure you'd come quietly." He gestured to the shotgun barrels aimed at Angel, "I can assure you the rounds in these guns are as lethal to vampires as they are to humans. They contain special bullets, solid oak reinforced by steel, they contain a center composed of blessed water. Very difficult and expensive to make. I have a large supply of them."

        "You've done your homework."

        "Modern vampire hunting. I develop efficient tools of the trade. If you'll come with me?"

        The men circled around Angel, herding him in Dorn's direction. Maybe he could have taken them. Doubtful though, with those weapons. He allowed himself to be moved. It's gone well enough this far, I just hope Kain has followed through on his part. 

        "In case you're wondering, I do know that Kain has broken into the building. I made it easy for him. By now he should be on his way to our mutual destination. He, however, is taking a more, shall we say, scenic route?"

        "What connection do I have with Hash'ak'gik?"

        Dorn looked a little surprised at Angel's question. "You don't know?"

        "I know that he's a dark god, one you plan to make sacrifices to, maybe even resurrect if you're lucky. "

        "I'm afraid Angel, that you don't have the slightest clue yet as to my intentions. Hash'ak'gik will not be resurrected. He was utterly destroyed millennia ago. He will be reborn. And you, Angel, are Hash'ak'gik."

        If Angel's heart had not stopped centuries ago, he could have sworn it had just skipped a beat.
 
 

        Kain made his way down the ladder. It had begun to smell in here. To think, a noble of Coorhagen, redeemer of the world, and still I find myself traveling through sewers. I'd be willing to bet Vorador never had to contend with sewers. Then again, he probably had one of his underlings do it for him. Funny, several thousand years after my death, but the funny thing is what has not changed. Strange objects light the streets yes, but streets are still used to get from here to there. Ladders are still used to climb up and down narrow places, little things like that, that never seem to change no matter how much the world around them does. Little things like sewers! Smelly, rotten, disgusting… Kain would continue dwelling on sewers for about ten more minutes, before he finally reached the bottom of the shaft, his spell was still active around him, so he could still see. The room was empty and small. It had the stench of decay in it. Piles of human waste lay about. Kain wrinkled his nose in disgust. Though he could not hide it from his heightened sense of smell. There was something else in the room. Another smell, being masked by the pungent odor. No vampire could fail to recognize that smell. Blood. He was right, the room had traces of blood flowing in it. Kain was not alone in this room. He drew the Soul Reaver. Turning his head left and right, spinning around, seeking out his enemy. The enemy was in here, he didn't know what or where it was, but he knew it was here. A sound, very faint, something smooth gliding over stone. It was moving closer, then further, then back again. Kain tried to focus in on the sound, but it seemed to come from everywhere at random. Hiding in the shadows. My light is fading! I have to find it before it goes out! Kain's eyes pierced the shadows, searching for movement, he found none. The sound crept closer. But he couldn't pinpoint it. The light faded. The room was in twilight. The sound moved closer. Kain's night vision was useless down here where there was no light. Kain felt something whizz next to his head. He ducked to avoid the blow and in a one motion turned to face his attacker. They looked into each other's eyes. A snake in form, with venom that could kill a man in a fraction of a second. A Basilisk. Kain thought. He had seen such creatures before. Though they always had their eyes gouged out. To look into a basilisk's eyes meant death, your soul was wrenched out of your body and cast into the abyss. Even now, he could feel the pull, the basilisk's eyes trying to pull his soul from his body. But a vampire's soul is anchored in by dark sorcery, not by nature. He would have no luck. The Basilisk seemed to realize that his gaze held no power. Kain swung the Soul Reaver at it's head, but even a vampire's grace and skill is nothing compared to the speed of a snake. It dodged Kain's blow as though it were a clumsy move. It drew back and lunged, Kain swerved right, it turned in a second and lunged again, Kain dodged, dodged again, his eyes couldn't kill him, but that didn't mean his venom wouldn't. Kain dodged again, the combatants moving at lightning speed, the basilisk striking and Kain dodging, no blows were thrown by Kain, he was too slow, one misplaced strike and Kain was dead. The basilisk seemed to have no end, every time it lunged back it drew more of itself from the shadows, but never ended. It had probably coiled itself up in preparation for the fight. His light was nearly gone. The snake lunged, Kain dodged right, and felt the snake, It lunged from behind, Kain dodged again and felt the snake again, It's trying to capture me! Kain dodged swerved, but couldn't get his attention off the venomous head. He couldn't focus on avoiding the coils. Suddenly the basilisk darted away from Kain, He felt the coils move, the trap was set, and Kain was the mouse. Kain jumped, too late, the snake's massive body surrounded him, tightened and held him fast. It squeezed the breath out of Kain, started squeezing the life from him. His light went out, darkness cast in the room. He felt blood rushing to his head, trickling from his mouth, he saw the basilisk's eyes, glowing in the darkness, watching, not to kill, but to enjoy the view of his prey's death.